Hopelessly Devoted
by Miss Ame
Summary: A broken friendship. The growing hatred of a young woman towards those she used to love and the confusion and dedication of one hanyou, to get back what he once lost. AU. Deletion note inside.
1. The Last Time?

  
  
  
  
  
**Author's Note:** I hope that you enjoy my first ever, Inuyasha fic! ^_^.   
  
  
  
  
**Disclaimer:** What Inuyasha fan fiction author _wouldn't_ wish that Inuyasha was theirs? I mean seriously. If they weren't obsessed with the show, they wouldn't be writing about it. In other words, this implies that I too wish that I own Inuyasha. Dammit Rumiko! _Sell_ him to me for free please? Pretty please? I don't have money, but I have the love and dedication-   
  
  
**Man at a street corner:** Oh shut the hell up!   
  
  
-_And that I promise with all my heart that I will not abandon my responsibilities on running the show every week_-   
  
  
**Man at a street corner**: Dammit. _**Walks up to me and hurls his fist**_.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
The birds were happily chirping away on a beautiful day. The sky was clear of any hovering clouds, and the wind only occasionally blew a pleasant gust of wind. Everything seemed so perfect. _Seemed_. Only seemed.   
  
  
  
Two figures were seen sitting against an impossibly ancient tree, known to the town as the '_God Tree_'. There were fits of laughter echoing throughout the forest, but it soon died out along with the music of the birds, as they flew away to another perch.   
  
  
  
"I-Inuyasha...?" asked a pretty, young girl with charcoal-colored hair, and unusual gray eyes. The look of content slowly faded away as she continued to stare at the silver-haired teen sitting next to her.   
  
  
  
"Yeah? What is it?" the boy called '_Inuyasha_' answered, turning to the side to meet the gaze of the girl.   
  
  
  
"Remember about a week ago... When I told you that my dad requested that my family move away-" she began.   
  
  
  
"... Yeah, 'cause he found out about me... A stupid, weak low-life hanyou..." the boy said, cutting her off quickly.   
  
  
  
"Don't put yourself down! I don't want to see you so down cast before I leave-" she tried again.   
  
  
  
"Wait a minute... What are you saying?" his voice became some what panicked and desperate.   
  
  
  
"My dad... Or '_Father_' as he would like me to call him... He saw us again yesterday when we went out catching fireflies in the night. He threw a fit and decided immediately that we should leave. As in today. He was debating on it for the whole week since he suggested it, but I think that seeing me disobey him again was the last straw for him... He didn't even ask me to pack my things. When I came back home... He already had my stuff packed up..."   
  
  
  
The boy curled his fists up into a tight ball. The ass. He couldn't do this. Not to Kagome. Not to him. She was the only other person to care about him besides his mother... and surprisingly now, his brother. He had half a mind to go to the Higurashi residence and beat the living shit out of the guy. "Bu- But you can't go! Kagome! How about you climb on my back and we leave this place... Just you and me. We can find someone else to take care of us-" he began, as desperately as his eyes shown.   
  
  
  
Kagome gave a little smile at this. "You know that I love my family-" she said, before she was _again_, so rudely cut off.   
  
  
  
"Yeah, but you're my best friend. That's gotta count for something!" the boy complained.   
  
  
  
"Look, Inuyasha, the reason why I came here was not for you to complain and possibly yell at me... I... I wanted to tell you something... Umm.. I wanted to say something important before I leave..." she said, poking her forefingers against themselves, as she stared down at the ground.   
  
  
  
"Uh huh..." Inuyasha urged on.   
  
  
  
"I-I know that I'm only thirteen... and you're... well... we just celebrated your fifteenth birthday a couple months ago by racing the frogs that we found by the pond..." she said, reminicing about fond memories. "B-But... I... I think that..."   
  
  
  
"Yeah..." the silver-haired boy stared again, impatiently.   
  
  
  
"Will you quit with that? I'm trying to tell you something important and you keep cutting me off!" she scolded, pulling at one of his furry, triangular dog ears, perched atop his head.   
  
  
  
"Yeah so...? You're taking too damn long!" he complained.   
  
  
  
"Yeah? Well, with that, you're making me lose my courage! Well... You know what?" she asked, her voice still a little raised.   
  
  
  
"What?" he yelled back at her.   
  
  
  
"I'm just not going to tell you anymore! You pompous jerk!" she 'huff'-ed, crossing her arms over her chest.   
  
  
  
"No! Wait! I want to know!" he said, shifting his position, so he could fully look at her face.   
  
  
  
Kagome turned her face to the side, a little blush emerging from either cheek. "I-It's nothing..." she answered.   
  
  
  
"It's gotta be something if you're blushing about it Kag!" he said, tantalizing the poor girl.   
  
  
  
"I- I'm not... It's just hot! That's what!" she argued back.   
  
  
  
"Just tell me dammit!"   
  
  
  
"Fine!" she yelled, utterly annoyed. She didn't stop to think of what she was just about to do, so she just continued yelling, "I like you! I like you _very much_! I just wanted to tell you that before I left. I wanted you to know! I really, really like you Inuyasha..." there, she said it, although first it was a yell, but then it became softer until it was barely a whisper. It was a good thing that he had seven times better hearing than normal humans or else he wouldn't have heard what she just proclaimed to him.   
  
  
  
"I-I..." he stuttered. He didn't know what to say. He liked her too, but his position was different. He was fifteen whilst she was thirteen. He doubted that at that age she would feel anything besides friendship for him. Boy was he wrong.   
  
  
  
"You don't have to say anything... I know that it's sudden, but I just didn't want to leave with knowing that you had no idea how I felt..." she said. Her voice held overwhelming sadness in the under tone of it though. She really did want him to reply.   
  
  
  
"No... I'm just surprised is all. Look... Kagome. I just didn't think you'd feel the same way. You keep hitting me upside the head when I say something you don't like, and I thought that all you felt for me was friendship... I didn't want to look like an idiot..." he explained. Damn this girl. She could make him proclaim that he slept with a little pink doll to the whole entire world if he wasn't careful with her. She just made him spill his feelings out like that.   
  
  
  
She looked up with hope in her eyes, as she met contact with his eyes. Then she gave him a mischievous smirk. "But you _always_ look like an idiot Inuyasha. That's why I keep hitting you in the first place!"   
  
  
  
Inuyasha glared at her playfully.   
  
  
  
Then there was silence.   
  
  
  
Pure silence.   
  
  
  
_Uncomfortable_ silence.   
  
  
  
The crickets were heard chirping, as if it were the peaceful night time.   
  
  
  
After a whole period of silence, Kagome spoke up. "D-Does this mean... Th-That we kiss now...?" she asked, nervously.   
  
  
  
Damn. That girl had been reading too much romance novels. But a first kiss and possibly the last, from the girl whom he really, _really_ liked didn't sound like such a bad idea. "Uh... If you want..." he said just as nervously as her.   
  
  
  
"Um... So how do we do this...?" she questioned, curiously.   
  
  
  
"Don't look at me! It's not like I know any better than you!" he defended.   
  
  
  
"Yeah... But the whole town thinks otherwise. The mothers are tearing their daughters away from the streets as we speak, afraid that you might come up and kiss them," Kagome explained. This was the truth. Inuyasha was known as the '_heart breaker hanyou_' of the forest.   
  
  
  
"Oh yeah..." he challenged. "But you know me better than those stop gossipers do! You're the only person who's the closest to me when it comes to friendship. Don't tell me you believe those stupid town bitches..." he really hated those gossipers. He hated everything they spread about him.   
  
  
  
"Inuyasha! Have some respect!" she scolded. "Look. I was just kidding... I know that you're not like that at all!"   
  
  
  
"Okay okay..." he said, calming down. He really just wanted to get back to their earlier topic. "Where... Where were we...?"   
  
  
  
Kagome blushed at his forwardness. She began picking at the soil beneath her, avoiding eye contact.   
  
  
  
"Look. _You_ don't know what to do. _I_ don't know what to do... Maybe if we held hands...? Maybe it'll all come to us then...?" he suggested.   
  
  
  
"Okay."   
  
  
  
With this, the two awkwardly held hands.   
  
  
  
Yet, nothing happened.   
  
  
  
"This is getting us nowhere..." Inuyasha plainly stated the obvious.   
  
  
  
"Kagome! Kagome! You're father's looking for you! Get back home immediately!" a mother's concerned voice called out to her preoccupied daughter.   
  
  
  
"Well this makes things easier..." the hanyou smiled.   
  
  
  
"Kagome!"   
  
  
  
"What do you m-" Kagome was about to ask, just when her best friend's mouth clumsily made it's way over hers. '_So this is how a first kiss feels like_...' she thought. '_A little clumsy I think_...'. She smirked at both of their innocence.   
  
  
  
"_Kagome_!!"   
  
  
  
Inuyasha took less pressure away from her mouth, and now, gently began innocently caressing his lips with hers. This was better.   
  
  
  
"**Kagome**!!!"   
  
  
  
Kagome only wished that time would stop right then and there. Too bad she didn't have a close relationship with time. When they pulled away, they both slowly opened their eyes to look at each other for what they both wished wasn't their last time. "My... My mother's calling me..." she said quietly, as she picked herself up.   
  
  
  
"Don't leave Kagome..." the young teen pleaded for the last time.   
  
  
  
She smiled at this. She wanted to reassure him. She wanted to say something that would _prove_ that they would see each other again. But she couldn't. "You know Inuyasha..." she began, all she wanted to remember was the good times before she left. "When I was six, all I ever fantasized was me marrying you when we grew up. It was a little childish dream... But... Somehow, I thought I knew that it would happen..."   
  
  
  
Inuyasha remained silent. How was he _supposed_ to reply?   
  
  
  
"KAGOME!!!"   
  
  
  
"I have to go..." she whispered, although her voice was holding a tone of reluctance.   
  
  
  
"Don't-" the hanyou tried one more.   
  
  
  
"I have to Inuyasha... You know I do..." she explained before looking at him once more, seeing his frame, resting sadly against the God Tree. "I'm sorry..." she said, before she took off into the direction her mother's voice came from.   
  
  
  
All Inuyasha could do was stare as she disappeared to the borders of the forest. "I'm going to miss you so much..." he whispered, before blindly racing towards his brother's home.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
"Sesshoumaru!" the young hanyou called out to his half brother.   
  
  
  
The man named Sesshoumaru turned around to face his younger, and only other sibling. "What is so urgent that you have to come breaking down the door for?" he asked a little irritably.   
  
  
  
The story went, that the Higurashi family would only accept an equivalently wealthy, young bachelor when their daughter was ready for marriage. Inuyasha's instincts _knew_ that Kagome would be the only girl he would ever truly want to be with. It was his youkai blood speaking. He wanted approval from even her parents, and he didn't care just how that would happen. He would _make_ it happen.   
  
  
  
Besides. Now, he knew that the family could only become wealthier with the company that Kagome's father was running. The only way that he would possibly ever meet her again was if he too were at the top.   
  
  
  
"I want to become known Sesshoumaru. I want to become rich," Inuyasha stated.   
  
  
  
"Don't we all?" Sesshoumaru said, all the while raising his brows, with amusement slightly touching his tone of voice.   
  
  
  
"No... I mean I _have_ to do this. For Kagome."   
  
  
  
That human wench again... That brother of his would be dead for being so damn soft before he reaches the age of sixteen if he kept this up.   
  
  
  
"Help me out, please?" the younger of the Inuyoukai begged his brother.   
  
  
  
Begging... Hmm... That was the first time his brother groveled for something. This might just be his last. Why pass up the chance? Besides, this plan proved interesting. "It would practically be impossible," the more human-looking brother explained.   
  
  
  
"I know that! I _know_ that dammit! Look. She left okay? I don't want her to leave again once I find her, and the only way I can do that is if her parents are okay with me!"   
  
  
  
"You must have a strong liking towards this girl for you to do something like this. But I will help you. Besides, governing the youkai's western lands does not truly promise wealth, although it is something that the land truly needs if it wants to still exsist thousands of years from now." Of course, this was just an excuse. He would never truly admit that he felt the brotherly urge to help the guy.   
  
  
  
At the brink of their father's death, the great Inuyoukai asked his eldest son to watch over, and care for what little was left of his family. Sesshoumaru couldn't just abandon his father's wishes. Besides, he was beginning to feel a fondness towards his half brother. Although they used to fight more than even youkai's could believe, and before, were even at the edge of ripping each others throats out. After their father died, things began to settle down. The eldest of the Inuyoukai brothers had no more problem with humans. That is, he still would have, if he had not met his potential mate: Rin.   
  
  
  
Inuyasha was left speechless. Although inside, his internal organs were practically parading and celebrating, the only internal organ that was still confused was his brain. Sesshoumaru... _Sesshoumaru_ just said '_yes_' to _him_? He had actually _agreed_ to help his own brother?   
  
  
  
When did the world start spinning on a different axis? When he first came bursting into the house, he only _wished_ that his brother would agree to help. He truly _did_ hope he would, but he was never really sure that he would. Good. _Now_ it was slowly registering in his brain.   
  
  
  
His brother was really going to help.   
  
  
  
He would really meet Kagome at the top.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
**Author's Notes:** Please don't ridicule me! This is my first Inuyasha fic. Although this isn't my first fic, Inuyasha and Digimon have two different concepts. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed. Please don't flame, but if you do, I'll have many great laughs, and I'd probably thank you. ^_^.   
  
  
  
  
Please review!   
  
  
  
  



	2. The Beginning of It All

  
  
  
  
**Author's Notes:** Fortunately for everyone who like stories with plots, I've created an outline, just for you, just to make myself positively _sure_ that I have a plot for you. ^_^ Yay! I'm exercising my writing skill all the more!   
  
  
  
**Happy New Year everyone!... Err... and Belated Merry Christmas!**   
  
  
  
**Eva-chan: ** ^_^ haha... Thank you _so_ much for saying all those wonderful things. I was just on a sugar high when I made that little disclaimer... so yeah... By the way: Your writing does **not** suck! The reviews are the ones who know what they like, and with their vast amount of reviews for you story, one _knows_ that they like your writing too.   
  
  
  
**Writer Chica: ** I'm only fifteen, and I still remember how I felt when I was thirteen, and I know that one can _definitely_ have a strong liking for someone. ^_^ Haha... Thank you so much for your review!!! This chapter goes out to you and everyone who couldn't wait for it ('cause it's long and it should take you a while to read).   
  
  
  
**keri: ** OooO. I know about the sap, and sometimes, one just gets sick and tired of it, but I had to. I just _had_ to put it in there. Don't you just love Inuyasha and Kagome? *Grins*   
  
  
  
** Hunter The Dusk:** Oh I'll continue this fic, no worries there. I'm so into the whole Inuyasha concept right now, and I'll be concentrating on it for a while. (Meaning until it's finished). Don't worry! I have everything all planned out, and I won't waste my time writing an outline for nothing. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEW!!!   
  
  
  
** Lil Drowned One: ** *Shuts eyes tight* Okay, okay, I promise to update... Just as soon as I get this whole Inuyasha thing outta my system (which is possibly going to take a while). *Runs away*. Don't hurt me! *Hides*   
  
  
  
**Riena: ** WOW ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. YOU MUST BE REALLY HAPPY ^_^!!! SO AM I, FOR YOU ARE MY FIRST REVIEWER FOR THIS FIC, PLUS YOU'RE THE FIRST TO ADD IT TO YOUR FAVORITES!!! Thank you to everyone who veiwed and reviewed! I really appreciate it ^_^.   
  
  
  
Anyway... Onto the chapter where the plot begins to unfold... and characters are introduced.   
Enjoy!   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
The hard knocking 'clomps' from the horses shoes pressed on without a care, as they traveled further than the young girl could ever imagine. It had been more than a weeks journey inside of a stuffy carriage with her six year old brother, and two parents who were visibly upset with their daughters actions. They decided to use the 'shunning method' on the poor girl, as she just sank deeper into her seat.   
  
  
  
Like leaving Inuyasha was bad enough, now her parents treated her as if she didn't exist. To make matters worse, her brother repeatedly shook her away from sleep asking if they were there yet. How was she supposed to know?! She wanted to scold him because of the foul mood she was in, but she was just not the yelling type.   
  
  
  
"Souta will you please leave you sister alone?" Ayame Higurashi, Kagome's twenty nine year old mother pleaded to her son. Her husband gave her a disapproving look before turning away.   
  
  
  
Finally they acknowledge her presence. "Thank you mother," Kagome said politely, in order for the tension mounting inside the carriage, to stop. Instead, her mother sighed and just turned to face the window. '_How childish_...' she thought angrily. '_The least they could do is explain to me of my transgressions and be done with it, but nooo... They somehow managed to make the shunning last for a_ week_!_ _Besides, why does my mother always take my fathers side?_' With this, she scowled and turned to face the other way, away from all her family members.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
Just a few hours later, the family arrived in what would be called their new home. To Kagome though, it was a bit too much. She didn't think that the high rise ceilings, the polished wooden floors, and the vast amount of rice paper doors scattered about the house, looked too homey. It was practically ten times larger than a normal Japanese-style home, yet it _was_..._ supposedly_ a 'normal' Japanese-styled home.   
  
  
  
"This is ridiculous!" Kagome exclaimed, before she had a chance to think her words through. "You're mad if you think we're going to be living in something _larger_ than the _Grand_ Kyoto Hotel!"   
  
  
  
"Just get you trunks out of the back of the carriage, Kagome. We will talk to you about your punishment soon enough after we have all finished unpacking... In fact..." Hayato Higurashi, the '_man of the house_' and Kagome's father looked up into the sky and thought for a second. "I believe that giving you a room at the end of the hall way, next to the tea room, will start off as a good punishment."   
  
  
  
Kagome just stared at him with disbelief, then she turned to her mother and pleaded with her. No one would ever want to have a room next to the tea room, for although a tea ceremony was supposed to be silent, her father would bring his co-workers there where they would drink sake and loudly tell stories of their day. Although that didn't sound as bad, the fact that they did that during the night, was. One could barely get any sleep. What cruel and unusual punishment.   
  
  
  
"Now, Shippou?" her father asked Kagome's personal servant.   
  
  
  
"Yes Higurashi-sama?" the kitsune youkai named Shippou answered, as he lowered himself to bow on the floor.   
  
  
  
"Take Kagome's trunks to her said room," he order, as the little fox scrambled to his feet immediately and grabbed Kagome's luggage.   
  
  
  
"No- Shippou, please. I'll do it myself!" Kagome tried. She never wanted a servant in the first place, but her parents told her that all respected ladies in Japan owned servants, so that their hands would not become blemished. Kagome's answer to that explanation was, "Well I think that is a load of carcass!" Of course, in the end, she was punished.   
  
  
  
Shippou looked over at the father then at the daughter, confused. What was he to do?   
  
  
  
"Shippou, I will not ask you again. Take those to my daughter's room," he said more sternly.   
  
  
  
With that, the little kit scurried away towards Kagome's new room, with literally ten suitcases at hand. Mr. Higurashi never wanted to waste time.   
  
  
  
"_Father_! You appointed him to _me_, now why can't I just handle it myself?" she asked. Her calm restraints were slowly peeling away.   
  
  
  
"Because I know for a fact that you will just let him watch, as you do all the slaves work. There is no way I will see to that. Besides, my business partners are coming anytime now, and if any see my daughter carrying her own baggage, they will just torment me for not training you better as a lady!" her father explained rather rudely.   
  
  
  
Kagome did not want her punishment to be any more worse, so she decided to bow to her father, and walk away in Shippou's direction.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
The rebellious girl, with midnight black hair, and unique rain cloud gray eyes, now sat submissive to her father's every word. Earlier that day, they had argued about how hanyou's were people and youkai too, with feelings and such, but her father would not hear any of it.   
  
  
  
Her father said that the reason why he moved that family was so that he could be as far away from the hanyou, Inuyasha as possible, so she would forget, and erase such preposterous thoughts from her head.   
  
  
  
Kagome became angered at that, and told him that she had kissed that '_filthy hanyou_' good-bye and _that_ would never be erased from her memory.   
  
  
  
This caused her father to call Shippou out of his servant's room. Mr. Higurashi came out of his room for a second, then came back holding a large wooden paddle-like device created for parents to teach their children something. Her father knew that if he punished Kagome with this, she wouldn't change still, but if he punished someone she cared about, it would hurt her ten times more than the paddle striking her back would.   
  
  
  
It took just two hits before Shippou started wailing, for he was just as old as Souta. Kagome screamed and threw herself over her little kitsune before her father could strike again. She promised that from then on, she would listen to him, just as long as he stayed away from Shippou.   
  
  
  
Mr. Higurashi smiled, because he knew he had won. He therefore walked out of the room, only to explain to Kagome about her last punishment.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
Kagome placed another moist towel on the second lash wound on Shippou's back. She was sorry to ever get the pup in the position in the first place. She was sorry that she took him in, in the first place, and made him into a servant.   
  
  
  
Actually, she was not the one who made him into a slave. She had found him with major burn wounds, as he told her a horrid story of his parents murder, and his escape. She immediately took him in and cared for him, all the while trying to hide him from her parents. Her father of course found out one day, and decided that no matter how young, he should become his daughter's servant.   
  
  
  
She cursed herself for not giving him to Inuyasha before she left. She knew that although the two fought very much, and Inuyasha would give him 'a piece of [his] mind' every now and then, she knew that his fate would have been better with the hanyou. She missed him so much.   
  
  
  
When Shippou was all nicely bandaged up, the two sat up all night and talked, while her father was in the tea room with his boasting comrades. It wasn't as if she could sleep with all the noise in the other room anyway.   
  
  
  
"Shippou?" she asked, as she stared straight into the kit's clear emerald eyes.   
  
  
  
Shippou looked at her questioningly.   
  
  
  
"I know that we've traveled very far-" Kagome tried to explain.   
  
  
  
"It may seem like that, but it's only because we went around the forest. If we went through it would take only two or three days on foot," he said wisely.   
  
  
  
Kagome smiled at this. All the more better. "Look Shippou. I don't want to cause you any more burden..." she said looking away, ashamed at herself for causing such a young kit so much pain.   
  
  
  
"You're not a burden to me Kagome... You protect me! You're like my other mommy!" he exclaimed, all the while bringing tears to the girl's eyes.   
  
  
  
"You're not making this any easier Shippou..." she smiled, taking him into her arms.   
  
  
  
"What do you mean...?" he asked, confused.   
  
  
  
"I want you to go to Inuyasha. It would be so much more better for you there..." she explained.   
  
  
  
"Bu-But! You're not going to be there to stop him from hitting me! He's gonna have so much fun torturing me!" he complained.   
  
  
  
Kagome couldn't help but laugh at the kit. "Then I'll just simply write him a note explaining that he take care of you," she said, taking out a quill and parchment, and began writing.   
  
  
  
"Like that idiot knows how to read..." he scoffed.   
  
  
  
Kagome continued to laugh, and stretched out her arm to ruffle up his hair.   
  
  
  
"But I don't want to leave you..." he said, more seriously this time.   
  
  
  
"It will be okay Shippou. We'll meet again..." she said, although she was so unsure of what she just said.   
  
  
  
"Promise?" he asked, with his big green eyes.   
  
  
  
Just then, the two heard footsteps in the hallways, and just realized that all the mens voices in the other room deceased.   
  
  
  
"You have to go now, Shippou. Take care! I'll miss you!" she said, pushing the reluctant kitsune out of the small window.   
  
  
  
"Kag-" he began, before he bounced off a bush.   
  
  
  
The footsteps were heard all the more clearer. "Run!"   
  
  
  
With that, the little kit ran away towards the forest.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
Four years ago, Kagome was brought to a school that trained young girls of tea ceremonies. Her father enrolled her in this school as part of her punishment. Her father had said, "Since you want so much to take something of a slave's job, I will make you my official tea-holder. Besides, it will impress my friends. They all want to take a look at the young beauty my daughter has grown to be."   
  
  
  
Just a year ago, her schooling was over. It wouldn't have taken so long if she didn't keep messing up, but she finally grew used to it. Her life had grown so dull, and there was nothing else she could do but listen to her father's orders.   
  
  
  
Since Shippou left, there was no one to talk to for her parents would barely let her speak to her brother for fear of her becoming rebellious once again.   
  
  
  
Somehow, between the years, her father had gotten her to think that both her friends abandoned her. They didn't care for her, that's why even with their powerful youkai sense of smell, they didn't bother tracking her down. When she slowly began to believe these lies, he decided to begin adding that she never go near filthy half-breeds again. Once again, she began to believe this.   
  
  
  
Every night, for the past four years, she would sit in her room and cry, but on the fifth year, her heart grew to become covered in ice, and she slept feeling no emotions at all.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
The loud boastful voices could be heard once more, as Kagome went into the kitchen to pour some more sake for her father's business partners. She hated their voices, and she hated their cat calls to her, something her father never bothered to stop. She hated all of them, and wished that they would just rot. Rot, drinking their damned sake.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
It had been five long, hard years, but to a certain hanyou, they were all worth it.   
  
  
  
After asking his brother for help, Sesshoumaru immediately explained that it would be harder for a youkai, especially an unstable hanyou, to gain the trust of business men, so he decided to cover up Inuyasha's youkai image and make an illusion of him as a human. This led them to a miko named Kaede.   
  
  
  
The miko's powers were legendary, and they were known to have powers of illusions, if not, the power to conceal true images. Kaede casted her powers on Inuyasha, but she did not get the desired effect. Instead, she left him with a couple white streaks of hair, and one dog ear on his head. His eyes were two different colors: gold, which was his hanyou eye color, and a dark purple, which was his human 'new moon', color.   
  
  
  
He looked positively strange.   
  
  
  
Kaede recommended them to her sister, who was a much more powerful miko: Kikyou. Kikyou succeeded in concealing Inuyasha's hanyou image. Just as long as her spell was cast, he would look like a human.   
  
  
  
Now that their first plan had worked out well, their second was to create a totally new identity. The brothers were never really good at naming, so Shippou decided to help and suggested that they mix up the letters in Inuyasha's name, and what his father was: a Inuyoukai, all the while saying, "You two are damned idiots with absolutely no sense of creativity."   
This earned him a good 'whack' on the head, credited to Inuyasha.   
  
  
  
This led them to the name Nayu Unuki.   
  
  
  
Now that they got the naming part down, they needed to find a way to make him known. The only way to do that was if he were filthy rich. Now this is were they came to a dead end.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
"Toutousai. I have a favor to ask of you," a deep, male voice said, as the sounds of footsteps came closer to the man known as Toutousai.   
  
  
  
The old geezer turned around to face his visitor. "Ahh... Sesshoumaru-san. It's been a while. I haven't seen you or your brother in quite a while."   
  
  
  
"That's true, but then again, it was because of your departure since my father died," explained the Inuyoukai. "I did not come here to chat about this though, and I need to make this quick."   
  
  
  
The old man was a little frightened. '_Make this quick_?' Make _what_ quick? Was the man going to kill him as punishment for leaving the family ever since his student died? Were the brothers truly _that_ dependent on him? "Sesshoumaru-" he began.   
  
  
  
"Inuyasha and I have finally tracked down where you work," Sesshoumaru began.   
  
  
  
'_Oh no! This is my end, after so many years_...' thought the old man, with bulging white eyes, and a vast amount of wrinkles.   
  
  
  
"We found out that you mine for gold, on your own," he continued.   
  
  
  
'_Yes. On my own, where no one can save me! Why didn't I just agree to work with that mining company? Why did I want to become so rich_?'   
  
  
  
"We want to know if you will help us on a plan that we made," he finished.   
  
  
  
Toutousai looked up. '_Phew. I knew that! They would_ never _kill me! I'm too valuable of a sensei for them to do that! Hah! Was I just scared for a moment_?'> he asked himself. He shook his head, '_Haha! Never in a million years_!'   
  
  
  
"Talk old man," the white-haired youkai barked.   
  
  
  
"Of course I will!" the old man said happily.   
  
  
  
"Well you see. Inuyasha needs a little advancement for some yen." With that, the youkai added quickly, "It's all part of the plan for him to get what he wants, and for me to earn money to tend to the western lands."   
  
  
  
"I see. So you want my gold?"   
  
  
  
"Yes. In fact we do. We will pay you, plus interest, once the plan is completed."   
  
  
  
"But... But... It's my hard-earned-" the old man began.   
  
  
  
Sesshoumaru looked anywhere but the face of the stubborn man. He was wearing away his patience. "I know that. That is why I said that we will pay you plus interest when it is all over."   
  
  
  
"Bu-"   
  
  
  
"It's just a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer Toutousai, although my deceased father would be terribly upset if you disagreed on helping his two sons."   
  
  
  
This got to him. He cared for the Tai-Inuyoukai very much, as if he were his son, but when he became angry, no one would ever want to cross his path. Even when he was dead, the old man would still cower in fear of upsetting the lord. "I agree, just as long as you explain to me about this 'plan' of yours," he said, as the two walked towards Sesshoumaru's territory.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
Inuyasha looked positively human when he stepped outside of his carriage, as he was now accustomed to for the past year. For the past two years, he had been gradually rising towards the top, after he bought an almost bankrupt company, with the gold-turned yen.   
  
  
  
With the help of his brother, Toutoutsai, and sometimes even Shippou, added inventions were made, and with them, the company began booming as it had never done before.   
  
  
  
This caught the attention of Hayato Higurashi, just as Inuyasha wanted. The man immediately was interested in a merger of the two companies, which made Inuyasha's plan all the more better.   
  
  
  
Inuyasha of course, wanted to make it slow and painful for the old man, so he made games, and sometimes even hint that he would finally merge the companies, but the next day, he would be completely oblivious about it. He loved the power.   
  
  
  
Finally, Hayato-san decided that it would be better if the two men actually got to know each other better, without the thought of work in their minds, so he invited Inuyasha - Nayu - to his house for a cup of tea. What the old man was really planning on doing was to make Nayu see his daughter.   
  
  
  
If he could just get Nayu to like, if not, fall in love with his daughter, he could finally have something to hold over his head, so that he could _make_ him want to merge the companies.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
Kagome walked out of the house with a wad of yen that her father had given her, so that she could buy the most expensive green tea she could find at the market. He had told her that a very important guest was to be visiting, so he gave her an extra amount, so she could buy a new kimono.   
  
  
  
She wasn't surprised when her father had asked her to buy a new dress, just for herself. She had a feeling that her father was just planning to display her like a China doll to his visitor, for some stupid plan he made up. She hated the fact that he always did that with her. She hated being displayed like some toy, and she hated the way her father always boasted on about how well-trained she was. She wanted to bite the man.   
  
  
  
As she walked down the road, her wad of bills fell to the ground, so she stopped to pick it up.   
  
  
  
Without her knowledge, a wolf youkai was watching her, hungrily, for it had not eaten in days. As the girl bent down to pick up the yen, the wolf decided that it was a perfect sign for him to strike, so he took that chance, before the girl could scream and alert help.   
  
  
  
As fast as lightning, the youkai sped towards his unaware victim. When he reached her, she was just about to stand back up. She turned around too late, and saw a flash of brown, before she fell down on the ground. "HEL-" was all that escaped her mouth before it was roughly closed by a youkai's hand.   
  
  
  
"Shut the hell up!" he commanded. "Damn it. If I wasn't so damn hungry, I'd make a beautiful woman such as yourself, my mate," he said, giving her a look over.   
  
  
  
Kagome didn't know whether to blush from his compliment or kick him in the family jewels.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
Somewhere, not too far away, Nayu was just about to enter his carriage home until he heard a scream that was instantly cut off. He knew those types of screams, and it was one calling for help, so instead of resuming into his carriage, he paid the driver to wait, and ran off.   
  
  
  
What he saw made his blood boil: a dirty wolf youkai, on top of a vaguely familiar-looking young woman.   
  
  
  
"What the hell is going on here?!" he demanded.   
  
  
  
This caused the wolf youkai to turn around, annoyed at the intruder. "Get out of here you bastard human! Can't you see I'm busy trying to eat?!"   
  
  
  
Nayu glared at this. A _youkai_ trying to eat a _human_. Now that was just disgraceful, and he wouldn't allow it. He _especially_ wouldn't allow it because he was curious as to why that girl's face was so familiar.   
  
  
  
"Hmmlp mmm!!!" the girl mumbled as she stared wide-eyed at Nayu. The damn wolf's hand was still on her mouth.   
  
  
  
"Get off her you wolf shit!" Nayu said, kicking the youkai away from the frightened girl.   
  
  
  
When she was free, Kagome ran to the side where her 'saviour' was standing.   
  
  
  
Nayu was surprised to see how powerful his kick was. He then realized that Kikyou only concealed his outward image. She did not conceal his youkai blood.   
  
  
  
"What the hell _are_ you?!" the wolf youkai demanded. This guy definitely couldn't be human. Human's kicks were puny and weak, while this guy's was just as powerful as his. Just then, he caught the scent. It was a light scent of a youkai, but it was still there. "You're not human!" he exclaimed, before he back away a little, then took off towards the forest. He would ask about who that 'man' was later, when his side stopped bleeding. Damn. If he only wasn't so hungry, and lacked energy he wouldn't have bled so damn easily.   
  
  
  
"Th-Thank you..." Kagome said, a little stunned at what just happened. She too was surprised to see that a simple kick from that human, caused the youkai to bleed... Bleed badly.   
  
  
  
"Don't mention it," Nayu said, before wiping the sweat away from his forehead with his sleeve.   
  
  
  
Kagome was smiling now. She was so happy to be alive! She also needed to repay the man, so she took her yen, and handed it to him. "I don't know how else to repay you, but please take this as a token of my gratitude. I'll have to tell my father about you, so he can give you a better prize than this..." she said.   
  
  
  
Nayu couldn't very well refuse what she had given him. That would be a rude gesture, so he reluctantly took it and smiled. "I'm Nayu Unuki - by the way - if you're going to tell your father."   
  
  
  
Kagome smiled politely at him, then bowed. "I have to leave now, I was supposed to run an errand for my father, but..." she didn't want to say that she needed the money to run that errand. It would make her feel bad if he gave it back to her. "Thank you again, and since I will be telling my father of you, I have a feeling that this will not be the last time I see you. Umm... I have to go... Bye!" she said, before she took off back to her house, to get more money before her father arrived home with his guest.   
  
  
  
Nayu looked quizzically at her shrinking frame, before he turned his head up to the darkening sky. '_Oh shit! I have that meeting with Hayato-san! I have to get cleaned up_!' he thought, before running back towards his waiting carriage.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
Kagome had made it just in time to clean up and prepare herself for her father's guest. She didn't like him angry at her, when she didn't do exactly as he asked of her.   
  
  
  
She wore a beautiful green, silk kimono, adorned in waterfalls, and a serene scene taken from the forest. It matched her perfectly, as her parents servants - who she had gotten close to in the past five years - said.   
  
  
  
She boiled the water for the green tea, which she had just bought an hour ago, before racing home to bathe, and dress up.   
  
  
  
It wasn't that she was looking forward to this meeting of the guest, it was just that her spirits were higher since that man saved her life. She was so happy to be alive, now that she thought about it, although she still hated to be paraded around. She was just more grateful, is all.   
  
  
  
Just as she was pouring the hot water into the tea pot, and adding the bag of expensive green tea, she heard a knock at the door and two men's voices entering the house halls. She quickly finished what she was doing, and shuffled towards the tea room, holding the green tea's pot, and three porcelain cups, in case her father asked her to stay with them. Not that she wanted to.   
  
  
  
She heard her father make a joke that would make any of his co-workers laugh, but with her visitor, she heard no laugh. Not even a slight noise that would sound like one. She smiled at this. She would want to stay now, to enjoy watching her father make a fool of himself.   
  
  
  
As she slid the rice paper door open, the two men ceased their conversation to see the 'intruder'.   
  
  
  
What Kagome saw made her jaw drop down to the floor. What she thought would be just another haughty old geezer, with a beer belly, was that same man who saved her from that wolf youkai. Now that she wasn't standing as close to him, she took in all his features. He had unusually long, midnight hair, and intense, but mysterious purple eyes.   
  
  
  
She almost dropped all that she was holding.   
  
  
  
"Nayu-san. I would like you to meet my daughter. Kagome Higurashi."   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
**Author's Notes: ** Hope that you enjoyed.   
  
  
  
  
Please review.   
  
  
  
  



	3. Friendship, Plans eh and the Deletion of...

  
  
  
  
  
**Authors Notes:** I am taking this story out of fanfiction. It's not because of... eh... what happened, which some people know of, it's just because I really would like people to read my stories and enjoy it, and if not a lot do, then what's the use? My efforts will not be fruitless for I will post it up on MM, but as for it's fate in fanfiction... It will be deleted. That's all. This chapter is just proof that it is not the same as... anothers fic.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
Kagome finally came out of her shock, and straightened herself back up again. '_This was not the arrogant, pompous jerk that I was thinking of... This guy seemed so nice when he saved me... Why is he associating with my father at all?! He'll corrupt the poor man_!' she thought sadly. Just the one business partner that she thought was nice because he saved her, would be corrupted soon enough. Maybe. Then again, she didn't know the guy at all, so she couldn't just judge him like that.   
  
  
  
"Hello," Nayu said to her, as she walked cautiously towards him and her father, as if she might just drop into a secret hole in the ground somewhere. No wonder he didn't recognize her from the start. When they were younger, she still carried around her girlish features... but... now... Kagome was always pretty, he would admit to himself, but now... She was beautiful. Breath-taking even. One more word: Enchanting. He could just drink in her image.   
  
  
  
Her stormy, gray eyes laid to rest on him, and her beautiful midnight hair (much to his disappointment), was put up into an elaborate bun, adorned with hand-carved trinkets, and a beautiful, ivory-colored pair of chop sticks. He was entranced when she opened her rose-colored lips to speak.   
  
  
  
"H-Hello. Welcome to the House of Higurashi. Please to meet you..." she said, bowing a little to show respect. She knelt down in front of both the men and began pouring tea for them, as she had been trained to do for four years now.   
  
  
  
"Kagome. You know not to stutter when speaking. It is not very lady-like," Hayato Higurashi said, smiling apologetically at Mr. Unuki, but the young raven haired man did not look pleased. In fact he looked just the opposite: repulsed.   
  
  
  
Nayu did not want to comment about it though, and felt satisfied with the disgusted face he made at the old man. '_Serves him right to let him know how sick I am of his damn ordering Kagome around_.'   
  
  
  
"Onto business then..." Kagome's father began, clearing his throat from embarrassment.   
  
  
  
"I will excuse myself now then." She was about to stand when Nayu began speaking. She learned that it was rude to be standing up whilst a guest was speaking, so she knelt back down.   
  
  
  
"You know Higurashi-san. Something interesting happened to me today," Nayu interrupted, pretending as if he did not hear any of the two. From the corner of his eyes, he found Kagome, barely visibly gawking at him.   
  
  
  
"Nayu-san, I think that this story should be held onto until you and my father are finished with-" she said, her eyes widening. Although she said that she would tell her father about the whole incident, while she was shopping for the tea and her kimono, she began to doubt it. Her father would just get her guards, and there was no way in hell she would want him to take away what little was left of her freedom.   
  
  
  
"Nonsense," Nayu waved her off, before he began telling his story. "Well you see. This late afternoon, I was climbing into my carriage and I heard a scream. I decided to see was it was about, so I followed the direction of where the sound came from and saw your daughter sprawled on the floor, a wolf youkai trying to eat her!" During the scene, he was angry, but now it seemed so funny.   
  
  
  
Hayato thought otherwise though, by the obvious expression on his face.   
  
  
  
"The wolf youkai was starving, and when I kicked it, it began bleeding so easily. Interesting... but then again, I figured it was just weakened from lack of... provision." Dammit, he really needed to sound as if he really _had_ an education. He didn't think he was doing badly either.   
  
  
  
"I see..." the older of the two men said. If Nayu wasn't there to save Kagome, then she would have already been dead, Nayu wouldn't be able to fall in love with her, and he wouldn't have anything to hold above the young man's head, so that the merger would actually happen. That's when he decided it. "I will just have to get her a bodyguard then to keep her safe," he stated. "Now onto business..." he tried again.   
  
  
  
Nayu laughed. "I think that you will need to get her two bodyguards, with the looks of your daughter!"   
  
  
  
"What do you mean Unuki-san?"   
  
  
  
"I'm not saying that many other youkai would like to eat your daughter sir, but it is spring, and for youkai, as I have read somewhere before, spring is their mating season. Your daughter is as beautiful as they come," he said, causing a slight blush on the girl.   
  
  
  
"If this is all you two men will be talking about for the remainder of the time, I feel that it is only right and respectful that I do not hear this..." Kagome said, standing up and bowing to the two men.   
  
  
  
"Kagome I feel that you should stay here and keep us company. Besides, one will never know when we need someone to pour us more tea!" her father said.   
  
  
  
'_Pour your own damn tea! You've got two arms_!' she thought wildly, but her outside composure was stock still and expressionless.   
  
  
  
"No no Higurashi-san. It's fine with me for her to leave. Besides, after all the events that happened to her today, she must be a little tired now, ne Kagome-san?" Nayu said, although he really wanted her to stay, he could practically _feel_ the anger she felt when her father asked her to stay and pour the tea. "I will just have to take her place and be the official tea pourer this evening."   
  
  
  
Kagome gave him a grateful smile before sliding the door open, to let herself out, then close it behind her. She was grateful and all that he let her escape, but she was mad from the fact that he had told her father of what happened that day, therefore making him consider getting her a bodyguard... no... In fact, two! _Plus_ she wouldn't leave out the fact that he had been trying to flatter her, and he even made her blush! She hated it, and she had been working so hard for a long time now to make herself not be so susceptible to compliments.   
  
  
  
She growled in the process of going towards her room, causing some servants to look over at her worriedly. She knew that her father would reprimand her of her actions tomorrow.   
  
  
  
'_Curse this whole world_!'   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
It was an ugly day, with the sky so dark and gray and the rain pouring so hard. Kagome had just woken up, when what little light that emerged from the clouds, hit her in the eyes, rousing her from her slumber.   
  
  
  
"Kagome."   
  
  
  
She stirred, as she heard a disapproving tone from a deep voice behind her.   
  
  
  
"I did not like your actions last night with our honored guest," her father said.   
  
  
  
'_There he goes... How did I know this was coming_?' she thought, inwardly rolling her eyes at her father. She finally turned to face him. "I was of no need to you. I don't understand how my actions were bad."   
  
  
  
"You only leave the room when asked of you the next time!" he commanded, his face turning scarlet from anger.   
  
  
  
"Oh, but I _was_ approved to take my leave," Kagome said, falsely sounding pleasant. "Nayu Unuki-san, your _honored guest_, said so."   
  
  
  
This made her father turn even more red, if it were even humanly possible. He couldn't contradict her... He _hated_ it when she finished arguments, but he was still happy that for the last five years, she barely argued with him. He would just vent his frustrations out on something else. It was useless. "Your new bodyguards are outside. Now clean yourself up and be presentable to them." With that said, he left.   
  
  
  
Kagome stood up, not truly noticing that her fists were clenched. '_Great, that guy succeeded in making me lose my freedom_,' she thought.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
As soon as she came outside, she heard a loud slap, and an 'Oww.'. She was curious as to what was going on, so she took a peek from the corner of the hallway, and noticed two figures standing there. One was a woman with long black hair, which was tied neatly into a pony tail; she was carrying an extra large boomerang. Next to her was a man with black hair which had a small rat's tail pony tail; he was holding something remotely close to a monk's staff. She noticed one other thing too: they were both dripping wet.   
  
  
  
"But Sango, I truly do think that you should wear that outfit in the rain more often! It shows your figure!" the man said, and another slap was followed.   
  
  
  
"Pervert," the woman said, as her hand was still held up from her slap.   
  
  
  
'These _people are my_ bodyguards?' she thought, interested. '_Since when did my father think that a_ woman _was capable of becoming a bodyguard...? Then again, that boomerang_ does _look intimidating_...'   
  
  
  
When everything became quiet again, Kagome thought it was the best time to step out. "Hello. My name is Kagome Higurashi," she said, as the two stared at her and smiled.   
  
  
  
Before she could say anything, the man was instantly by her side, grabbing her hands all the while, kneeling down. She stared at him strangely, and then at the woman with the boomerang, questioningly.   
  
  
  
The woman named Sango looked visibly irritated, as she stalked closer to the man.   
  
  
  
"A beautiful woman such as yourself should not be without child for a long period of time... Which brings me to my question: Will you bear my child?" the man said, highly surprising Kagome. She was just not used to these types of things.   
  
  
  
She pulled her hands away quickly just as Sango came to the man. "You damned pervert Miroku!" she said, hitting him at the back of his head.   
  
  
  
"Uhh..." Kagome didn't know what to say.   
  
  
  
"I'm sorry about that, but you know men..." the other woman said, trailing off for a bit before resuming. "He does that all the time. Anyways, my name is Sango Taijiya, and this is Miroku Tatami. You know, like the tatami mats that you get to step on before entering the house?"   
  
  
  
Kagome smiled at this. "You are suppose to be my bodyguards?" she asked, suddenly not feeling so sad about losing her freedom.   
  
  
  
"Yes, we were sent here by Nayu-san. We're two of his most trusted guards. Besides..." Sango said, leaning over to whisper to Kagome, "No offense, but I doubt that your father is one to hire a woman bodyguard! My boomerang caught him off guard though, I am happy to say... No offense though! No offense..."   
  
  
  
"None taken," Kagome said, smiling at the two. "Ahh... I'll give you towels so that you can dry off. I'll let you borrow some clothes of mine, and my mother likes to buy my brother clothes that he can grow into, so I think that I can find something for you to wear too," she suggested, first towards Sango, then to Miroku.   
  
  
  
"That would great. Thank you very much Higurashi-san," the two said, almost in unison.   
  
  
  
"Just please call me Kagome."   
  
  
  
"If you wish us to do so," Miroku said.   
  
  
  
Kagome left the room for just a few minutes and came back holding a bundle of cloth. A few towels, and clothes for her new bodyguards. "Sango-san-" Sango cut her off gently, chuckling slightly, which confused Kagome.   
  
  
  
"Just call me Sango," the woman bodyguard said.   
  
  
  
"Sango... You can go change in my bedroom. Miroku-" she didn't know whether to call him with a 'san' or not, so she dared saying his name plainly. "You can go get changed inside of the guest bedroom next to my room." She led the two to their 'dressing rooms' and waited outside, making the tea and miso soup.   
  
  
  
She set all the plates and bowels, ready to get more acquainted with whom she hoped would be new friends to her...   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
"Inuyasha, I just don't understand why, even on the days when you have a break from work, you don't want to eat with me in a little picnic. All you do is sit around moping for kami-knows-what, at your home," complained the miko who had the duty of concealing Inuyasha's true identity.   
  
  
  
"You should know by now that I'm not really into it then, Kikyou," Inuyasha said, as he paced around, with his silver hair flowing behind him.   
  
  
  
Kikyou watched the distressed hanyou and sighed. "Whatever is weighing down your mind or heart today Inuyasha, just let it go. Let's have lunch. Come," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards her kitchen where they would start making food for the picnic.   
  
  
  
"But it's raining outside!" he complained.   
  
  
  
"Which would make it all the more interesting, don't you think?" she said, giving him a bright smile before she started to make picnic food.   
  
  
  
Good ol' Kikyou, always there to brighten up the day. Inuyasha felt a fondness for the miko since he stared getting to know her. She was beginning to become a really great friend of his, although she still had no idea why he had that secret plan of his.   
  
  
  
A couple months since they met, Inuyasha thought that it was an appropriate time to tell her the reason why he wanted to become successful and appear human; he knew she would be trustworthy then. She had a thought that the reason was deeper than just the wanting of money and fame, oh and she never knew how she just struck silver right there... frighteningly close to striking gold. She never got to know though, no, she had spilt her feelings for him as they sat upon the steps to her home. Inuyasha had hesitated, then told her a completely different reason of his visiting her.   
  
  
  
To tell the truth, Inuyasha couldn't bring himself to reveal his true plan to her. He didn't have the heart. What was he going to tell her after she had just confessed her feelings for him? That he was just using her because he wanted his childhood crush back? That would be a little cold-hearted, and for the life of him, he couldn't being himself to break his friend's heart.   
  
  
  
A couple minutes had passed before Kikyou asked Inuyasha to start helping her clean up. As soon as they were finished, she placed their food in a basket, covered with a designed towel, and they walked out into the pouring rain.   
  
  
  
"So where did Miroku and Sango go? They didn't even leave a note... I found it a little unusual..." she hesitantly said, as they trudged slowly towards the forest, where less rain would be pouring, thanks to the shielding trees. She was a little worried. Miroku and Sango were very good friends of her and especially Inuyasha. They seemed to know of his plans though, and would usually go with him to work, but that day, they decided to be early risers. Even earlier than Kikyou herself, and they did not leave a note.   
  
  
  
It was a smart move for them to start working as Kagome's bodyguards during that same day that Inuyasha did not have work... How convenient-... -ly planned.   
  
  
  
"Uhhh... Somewhere, probably to the market... or they got a new job. It doesn't matter though, it's their business, you shouldn't be asking questions as if they were off murdering someone!" Inuyasha snapped. Crap. Miroku... That idiot was responsible for writing a note!   
  
  
  
Kikyou gave him a look of curiosity, but just shook it away. '_He'll never tell you anyway_,' she thought sadly,   
  
  
  
"Let's stop here," he said, siting down indian-styled, next to a tree stump, conveniently leveled so it could be used as a picnic table.   
  
  
  
"Great!" she exclaimed, as she set down the basket and served their food.   
  
  
  
A couple minutes had passed, and their food was nicely laid down in font of them now.   
  
  
  
He couldn't help it. He had been thinking too much of Kagome... He couldn't help bursting out. "I think this is fucking ridiculous!" the white-haired hanyou suddenly exclaimed.   
  
  
  
Kikyou looked at him with cloudy eyes. "You really didn't have to go if you didn't want to..." she said, turning away from him, taking it the wrong way.   
  
  
  
To be honest, he was thinking about the way Kagome's dad had just ordered her around, and how he couldn't disembowel the man right then and there. "No... It's not that..." he began.   
  
  
  
"No Inuyasha, you don't have to apologize. I understand that you never really wanted to come-"   
  
  
  
Inuyasha swiftly cut her off. He hated seeing women cry. "Dammit! Just listen okay?!" he really didn't mean to yet... but it was his nature. It didn't matter anyway, since Kikyou was now listening to him. "It's not about this picnic. I was just thinking about something else, so don't go wasting whatever's left of your bodily fluids and cry. It's not worth it."   
  
  
  
Kikyou just stared at him for a moment, trying to analyze him before she gave up, because of his eyes which expressed practically no other emotion rather than anger. "Let's just eat..." she said, smiling to him once again.   
  
  
  
"Yeah," he said monotonously, but in his mind, he couldn't help but think of all the beautiful, master torture plans he had for that bastard Kagome called 'father'. He could barely even stop thinking about her for the whole picnic, the way she talked, and her scent... so intoxicating... he could live just knowing he had seen her once again, but greedy little him wanted more than just that.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
"Well it was just about here," Kagome said pointing towards the ground where the wolf youkai attacked her. She was showing them around, all the while showing them the way to the market. Her father had left that day for his business, but he looked sullen. Possibly because the owner of the most valuable company, that _he_ wanted, was not at work that day.   
  
  
  
He had given Kagome her usual weekly allowance, which she was happy for, but she felt that he only gave it to her so that she would shut up and not bother him.   
  
  
  
"Wow... Nayu must have kicked him pretty hard. The body imprint is still on the soil!" Sango exclaimed, just in the verge of laughing.   
  
  
  
Miroku bent down and examined it closely. "If you come closer, I think you can see the imprint of the youkai's face!" he said.   
  
  
  
The three broke down into fits of laughter, and it took a while before they regained their composture, and began resuming the walk to the market again.   
  
  
  
Just then, a rushing of two feet was heard, then it stopped abruptly, near the group. Sango had her Hiraikotsu ready, as did Miroku with his sharp staff.   
  
  
  
But no one was there.   
  
  
  
"I'm glad that we could meet again, so that I could apologize to you for my disgusting behavior before," came a familiar voice.   
  
  
  
The three turned around, and Kagome saw that same wolf youkai. He didn't look scrawny anymore, and he was all nice and clean. As she looked at him, he didn't look like he would hurt a fly. Then again, it was just a first... eh... second impression.   
  
  
  
"My name is Kouga. I have been doing some research on you, Miss Kagome Higurashi," the wolf said, bending down and bowing politely. "Now if only I could turn back the hands of time and take back what I did. As I went back towards my home, I realized more and more of your beauty, and the more I became disgusted with myself." He looked over at Sango and Miroku, who still held their weapons, dangerously close to him.   
  
  
  
"How disgusted? Because of that filthy thing that you did, wanting to eat humans... You should be disgraced," Sango said, raising her weapon higher.   
  
  
  
"Indeed that is true, but I am happy that I was not. I will try to make up for what I did, and for my first action, I had vowed never to eat humans, or anything closely related to them, ever again," Kouga stated.   
  
  
  
Kagome was impressed. This savage of a demon chose his words delicately. She would just give him a chance to redeem himself after all. "Well... We were just about to go to the market. Would you like to join us?" she asked.   
  
  
  
Miroku and Sango stared at her disbelievingly. "After what he almost did to you Kagome? Do you really think you should trust his words? For all we know, he could be chewing, swallowing and digesting complete loads of bull," Miroku said.   
  
  
  
"If he does try to harm me or anyone else, you two will be there, right?" she said to the two.   
  
  
  
They considered this, then agreed, and so the four walked towards the market.   
  
  
  
**(A/N: If all their arms were linked, I'd be forced to sing: "We're off to see the wizard!" ^_~)**   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
It had been a whole week since Sango and Miroku had started working for Kagome. Kikyou was really beginning to get suspicious since the two packed their things and moved out of her home. Miroku had said that it was for a job, then Sango had elbowed him in the stomach then.   
  
  
  
Also, Inuyasha had been constantly visiting Hayato Higurashi's home. The most she knew was that Inuyasha was a business man, but she felt that there a deeper plan than just concealing his hanyou form from the humans, so that he would become successful. She wanted to know, but she knew that Inuyasha wouldn't tell her.   
  
  
  
She would just have to find out on her own then.   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
"I will go look for those files then. This will just take a couple minutes Unuki-san. My daughter will be here to entertain you until I arrive with them," Hayato Higurashi said, as he rushed out to quickly find the files, to please Nayu. 'Keep the 'client' happy' was his motto.   
  
  
  
"Okay then," Nayu said, as he and Kagome sat there in silence.   
  
  
  
Kagome constantly turned her cup this way and that, as if it made a difference, with the fact that it was _round_.   
  
  
  
"What a *boor don't you think?" Nayu said, looking over to Kagome.   
  
  
  
The stormy eyed girl looked up at him after registering it in her brain that he was talking about her father. This was nice. She needed someone who knew him too, whom she could talk about and say what an ass the old man was... but to her father's _business partner_? That didn't seem right, so she decided to just stay quiet.   
  
  
  
"I won't tell him if you agree with me," he said.   
  
  
  
Kagome continued to spin her cup.   
  
  
  
"I'm sorry for whatever I did to you. Ever since after you father's first meeting with me, you seem more closed off towards me. Did I offend you?" he asked.   
  
  
  
"Besides the fact that you robbed me of my last chance of freedom?" Kagome answered, a little more harshly than she wanted, but it was just the ice in her heart that was talking.   
  
  
  
Nayu winced a little at this. This wasn't Kagome-like at all. What had that bastard done to her? "I'm sorry... But you seemed to be adjusting fine to that fact!" Damn him... why did he always rise up to a challenge of an argument?   
  
  
  
"I know that I've possibly made new friends out of it all, but I don't understand why _you_ had to be a part of it!" Kagome said. She was really supposed to ask him about it in a kinder way, but it just spilled out.   
  
  
  
"Well after seeing such a _weak_ girl like you struggle from that youkai, and with you being Higurashi-san's daughter, I decided that it was important to keep you safe!" he yelled.   
  
  
  
"But I thought you just said my father was a boor!" she yelled back.   
  
  
  
"I _did_, didn't I?" he yelled again, surprising her because he wasn't being serious anymore. His lips were curving up into a smile, and as he watched Kagome, she began smiling too.   
  
  
  
Soon the two broke up into fits of laughter, until her father came back. He was happy seeing the two enjoy each other's company. Did this mean that Nayu might start liking his daughter then? Well... he wished. He hoped, or his plan wouldn't work out very well.   
  
  
  
When the two young people noticed Kagome's father's presence, they immediately stopped and straightened themselves back up, although throughout the night, every now and then when they caught each other's eye, they would smile and try to control their awaiting laughter.   
  
  
  
'_Your father was just an excuse Kagome... I wanted you to be protected..._'   
  
  
  
  
~*~   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
